Hello, This is my first time in this forum
My daughter is coming from the UK to live with me next year in Switzerland; she will be 16 & only speaks English.
I have looked at International schools but the costs are frighteneing.
I have heard bad things about the public schools.
What other options both in Education & getting a job would be available to her.

16 is a difficult age to move to a country with a different language. One is coming in at the tail end of obligatory education with very little wiggle room.
Local schools are not bad, but they are not that flexible.

As said above, a very difficult time to move to Switzerland.
In England students do 4 subjects in year 12, then 3 in year 13 for A' Levels, which can be mixed and matched with other courses.

In CH, the academic stream is 3 years, and like in Scotland, all subjects are studied to the end. So an excellent command of the local language is essential + a good command of a second national language. So a total no-no in your case. I'd strongly advise you to let her finish in the UK if at all possible.

So difficult to advise further without knowing more about her, her motivation, her academic ability, wishes, dreams and desires.

It would be very difficult for her to do an apprenticeship due to lack of local language. Even in a practical subject, be it hairdressing or car mechanic, whatever- the 2 day a week at school and the exams would be almost impossible. And she is too young to be an Au-Pair, etc. Tough call.


PS - what 'bad' things have you heard about public/state schools, as a matter of interest. They are often excellent - but for the reasons above do NOT suit older foreign students arriving at a later stage. ANYBODY CONSIDERING BRINGING THEIR CHILDREN TO CH - PLEASE PLEASE TRY TO COME BEFORE THE AGE OF 9 (as children are streamed at age 11) IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD BI-LINGUAL PRIVATE SCHOOL. PLEASE.

Edit/ps : it has been pointed out to me that the Scottish system is in fact somewhat in between the 2 - UK / CH system. Not all subjects are continued to 18, but only 5 - please accept my sincere apologies.

Obviously we don't know your particular situation but if there is anyway she could stay in the UK to continue her education then I think, and based on what you have described, staying in the UK would be best for her.

I have no doubt she could pick up the language at some stage but to go straight into school would be very difficult and I doubt most public schools (which, by the way, tend to be rather better than the average UK ones) in CH would accept her.

Also, as per the title, without the local language she will obviously find it hard to find any actual work because of the training system in place here in CH. People tend not to find employment at 16 (though I am generalising here) as they are expected to still be at school all day.

If she wants a training position/apprenticeship then I believe they start in August so it might work out that she can apply next year, but between now and then I doubt she will be able to find much work to offset the cost of her language course.

Have you a friend of a friend who might be able to find something for her, seriously, try asking round it can't hurt and don't underestimate the importance of contacts even for a Saturday job.

One of my daughters was 16 when we first moved here and although they were very good with her and she went to a college to prepare her for the next level ( and she spoke french), she ended up returning to the UK to do A levels and in fact then went on to University in the UK.

It is not the news I am sure that you want to hear - but as has been said, it is the worst possible age.

work options will be limited. Kids at that age would be at school full-time, or in practicum (work experience) which pays around 1000chf a month for full time work, or starting an apprenticeship with a similarly low training wage.

She would struggle enormously to find anything that didn't require good fluency in German, Swiss-German and/or French.

Is she highly self motivated, or at a loose end ? I think it's essential that she finishes school. Unless you have really good contacts. Where I come from, if you can't cope with school at that age, you usually end up working in a business that is run by family, where you get good supervision and a basic wage, and are kept 'out of trouble'... as a foreigner, you may not have those sorts of contacts...

Reality is that private schooling options in English will be enormously expensive and not necessarily open doors. I'd consider speaking to an educational psychologist or careers advisor (several professionals actually) to get an analysis of what your daughter's prospects are and to try to assess her needs...

At 16, she may not even be considered to be the 'responsibility' of the education system, because she is past the compulsory schooling age...

Well, of course coming by an early age would make certain things easier,

but imho it is all but impossible to join CH at an age of 16 (still easier than 20, e.g., only that at an age of 20 one might already have a bac or high school diploma or whatever.). Every change from a former home to a new ambiente is difficult, also for a 9 year old, and we didn't speak about adults yet.


Lil bit strange; how is it possible that a British pupil doesn't learn at least a bit of basic German or French at that age (however, it's never too late)? Would make it easier ...


Imho it's not excellent; however, it's better than the private system, and probably better than that one in any Anglo-saxon country for sure.



If one until yesterday went +- fine in a school system, and if youth/puberty problems aren't over the norm complicated, the student's parents agree on the option that their daughter or son might lose a year at school (no one will ever ask why a person is a year older than some others), I don't think the situation is that dramatic. I've seen many students from Russia, Brazil, Turkey or whatever integrating well at the age of 16.


Wow. Didn't believe it being so hard. Why would it be difficult to enter in a Mittelschule, except for the 4th class (as pupils face the shift towards other schools and/or apprentissage)?

You've just said it. It takes a few years to acquire the necessary level in local language to access the academic stream, And same, albeit lower level, for second national language- even if the child is keen, motivated and academically very able. If you have an academic child, the last thing you want is for said child to find themselves in vocational stream - for all sorts of reasons. There are possibilities to switch over to the academic stream at a later stage, but it is NOT easy and requires a lot of dedication and support.

What's that "it" I have been saying?
Maybe you mean that here:
What I meant was that of course there are some classes/ages where one should pay a little bit attention on some systemical issues i.e. final grades that determine what type of school one can visit, what perspectives one has e.g.
So it's a problem to join e.g. 4th Mittelschule without language knowledge and without an agreement that a student can easily repeat the year or that he can pass to a high school without marks in language skilled lessons or whatever.

However, imho no real problem entering high school at first Gymnasium, e.g., so an age of one year older.

On the job market and apprenticeship sector things change a bit;

but also there similar caution can ease the situation by far.



N.B. It is a difficult pass, yes I do acknowledge that,

but it's probably easier than being an expat having to accept only jobs with English as a language, having no clue about the country, facing the need to learn a language at an age of 30, maybe without family and friends.

When I was 16 (~15 years ago) I used to spend my summers in CH working. I would do generic physical labour (not typically suited for females, but it is the 2010s). When applying I would state I had swiss citizenship, but have never shown any documents. I would be paid cash (metal-work manufaturing facility) so in hindsight I was most likely working under the table. Paid for my brutally expensive education (and then some, since I'm a lazy failure), but financially put me in a really great positions.

Again, it was physical repetitive work, and possibly under the table, but it is doable, and worth my while.

Just my experiences.

Where Odile imho for sure has a point is that in a direct comparison "continuing one's schooling career at an age of 16 in his home country" "shifting towards a foreign system in another language"

is that the first one, with regard to the second, is easier (i.e. the second option technically is more of a challenge).

However, other input variables can change that (e.g. distance from family, easy access to a friends gang, social contacts, sports activities, Swiss German or French as local language as in the first one has to learn practically 2 of them, countryside or city network, ...).

Speaking from my own personal experience... I think it really depends on how excited she is to learn the local language. When I was 16, I was obsessed with everything German and I was like a sponge picking up the language because I loved it so much... at that age, we really are just discovering ourselves. So it really does depend on how motivated she is. If she is really willing and wanting to do it and it is her passion... I would say go for it!

You could enrol her in a bridging course. My daughter is 17 and will be starting a "Berufsvorbereindes Schuljahr" with BFF Bern in a couple of weeks. I think this roughly translates to a career prep school year (Often called the 10th school year).

It's a course designed for young adults (16-19) whose academic level isn't high enough for tertiary education, and who aren't quite ready for an apprenticeship. And in my daughter's case will have an emphasis on integration - including language etc

I'm sure every canton will have something similar available as well as free careers advice where you can find out about how the system works here.

Odile you`ve done it again . The Scottish education system is totally separate from the English education system, there is no UK system. And where do you get the number 5 from? The Scottish system is flexible in terms of what is studied.

At 16 there are limited options but it is not impossible. I have had clients with children this age.
This link (sorry only in German)is an overview of programmes mainly in Kanton Aargau.
http://www.beratungsdienste-aargau.c...enangebote.pdf

If you are coming here for employment purposes, you might ask your employer for some support.

This looks like it's the Aargau equivalent to the program my daughter will be doing

The bridge program in Aargau has a separate integration class. The kids who complete it are able to do a 2nd bridge year in the main program, where there is a strong focus on finding an apprenticeship. If i am not mistaken, kantonschule entrance is also possible, especially in the bilingual program. Not sure if every canton has a similar program.
However, this would be a huge change for the teen. The OP has to weigh whether their daughter can make such a switch. Some teens take the idea of the move extremely hard. Nervous breakdowns, resistance to learning the language and worse are unfortunately not uncommon. Several people have told me that they had to send their teen back home after 6 months or a year because their reaction was extreme, and international school was unaffordable.

I have posted before on the challenges of moving with teenagers. It is very difficult even when the switch is from one international school to another. As parents we have to put on a brave face and reassure our children it will all be okay.

What I would be interested to know from the OP is what are your daughter's interests? There is no question she will need to learn the language but clearly in some jobs there is less emphasis on the language and more on the skill set.